Coaches

Peter Giunta (pronounced GEN-ta) is in his sixth season as the Giants’ secondary coach/cornerbacks. He joined the team on Jan. 18, 2006. Giunta has been coaching football for 30 years, including 20 in the NFL. He was the defensive coordinator for the 1999 Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams.

With the Giants, Giunta has been at the forefront in the development of cornerbacks Terrell Thomas, Corey Webster, Aaron Ross and Bruce Johnson. In 2010, Thomas started all 16 games at right cornerback and led the team in tackles (101) and interceptions (five) for the second consecutive season, as well as passes defensed (15). Webster started 15 games on the left side and had four interceptions and eight passes defensed. Strong play by the cornerbacks helped the Giants finish ninth in the NFL in pass defense.

Ross bounced back from an injury-plagued 2009 season to play in 15 games. Johnson, who played in every game and started four as an undrafted rookie in 2009 – when he returned an interception for a touchdown at Dallas – was limited to six games last year because of knee surgery.

In 2008, Webster, Ross and safety James Butler tied for the team lead with three interceptions apiece. Ross, the team’s 2007 first-round draft choice, scored a touchdown on an interception return in each of his first two seasons. Webster, a second-round choice in 2005, re-joined the starting lineup in the 2007 postseason and has since been a fixture in the lineup. His interception of a Bretty Favre pass set up the Giants’ game-winning field goal in overtime in the 2007 NFC Championship Game in Green Bay. Thomas became an important member of the secondary in the second half of his rookie season.

Prior to joining the Giants, Giunta was the Kansas City Chiefs’ defensive backs coach for five seasons. In 2003, safety Jerome Woods earned his initial Pro Bowl berth under Giunta’s guidance, an impressive feat considering the fact that he missed the entire 2002 campaign with a broken right leg. The Chiefs registered 25 interceptions to rank third in the NFL that season, as safety Greg Wesley and cornerback Dexter McCleon paced the team with six picks apiece.

Giunta joined the Chiefs after spending four seasons (1997-2000) with St. Louis, including the last three as that club’s defensive coordinator. Giunta served as the Rams’ assistant head coach under Dick Vermeil in 1998-99 after originally joining the Rams staff as defensive backs coach in 1997.

As Rams defensive coordinator, Giunta was responsible for the resurgence in the St. Louis defense which helped spark the club’s unexpected run to a world championship in 1999. Those efforts culminated with a 13-3 regular season record and a 23-16 victory over Tennessee in Super Bowl XXXIV. Giunta’s unit led the league in rush defense in ‘99, allowing just 74.3 yards per game, while ranking fourth in scoring defense (15.1 points per game) and sixth in total defense (293.6 yards per game).

The Rams’ 1999 defense led the NFC and was second in the NFL with 29 interceptions. Cornerback Todd Lyght led the way, tying for the league lead with six interceptions, earning his initial Pro Bowl berth in the process. St. Louis was also opportunistic, returning nine takeaways (seven interception and two fumbles) for touchdowns in ‘99. Those turnovers were due in large part to a Rams pass rush which racked up 57.0 sacks, a figure which tied Tom Coughlin’s Jacksonville Jaguars for the league lead. That charge was headlined by Pro Bowl defensive end Kevin Carter, who led the NFL with 17.0 sacks.

Giunta has long had a reputation for getting the most out of the defensive backs he coaches. In 2000, McCleon intercepted eight passes for St. Louis, a total which was surpassed only by Green Bay safety Darren Sharper, who had nine. In Giunta’s first season as defensive coordinator in 1998, St. Louis ranked third in the NFL in passing defense, allowing 176.9 yards per game. With Giunta serving as defensive backs coach in 1997 the Rams were second in the league with 25 interceptions, including an NFL-high nine by Ryan McNeil.

Prior to his stint with the Rams, Giunta spent two seasons as the defensive backs coach for the Jets. In 1995, the Jets led the league in pass defense (171.3 yards per game). Giunta was also instrumental in the development of cornerback Aaron Glenn, who played in the Pro Bowl following the 1997 and ‘98 seasons.

Giunta entered the NFL as the defensive backs coach in Philadelphia from 1991-94. During the ‘91 season, the Eagles defense ranked first in the league in passing defense (150.8 yards per game), rushing defense (71.0 yards per game) and total defense (221.8 yards per game). That marked just the fifth time in NFL history and the first time since 1975 that a single team led the league in all three of those defensive categories. No team has equaled that feat since the 1991 Eagles.

Giunta’s 10 seasons in the collegiate ranks began at Penn State (1981-83). Giunta was a defensive assistant his first year on Joe Paterno’s staff before coaching the tight ends in his final two seasons. While he was at Penn State, the Nittany Lions won the 1982 National Championship with a 27-23 victory over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Penn State won three bowl games during Giunta’s tenure (’82 Fiesta, ‘83 Sugar and ‘83 Aloha).

Following Penn State, Giunta moved to Brown (1984-87), where he coached both the tight ends and wide receivers before becoming the offensive coordinator (1986-87). Giunta then joined the staff at Lehigh (1988-90), where he was responsible for the tight ends and wide receivers.

After a four-year playing career as a defensive back and running back at Northeastern (1974-77), Giunta began his coaching career in Massachusetts where he was an assistant coach at Swampscott High School from 1978-80.

Giunta is a native of Salem, Massachusetts and a graduate of Northeastern University. He and his wife, Cindy, have three children: Christina, John and D.J.